INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Road and Transport Sector

Public Transport Services
‘Ensuring affordable, safe and accessible transportation system that recognizes the needs of people’ is one of Government’s objectives for the transport sector. The promotion of mass transportation is one of the major steps taken to realize this objective. The bulk of passengers on the road network are transported by public transport vehicles such as taxis, ‘trotros’ and buses.

The Metro Mass Transport Company (MMT) was established in October 2003. There is the need to provide more buses and improve on the quality of service to attract more people to use the mass transport system as this will lead to lower congestion in the cities. The plan to introduce Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in Accra and other cities is therefore in the right direction.

The MMT bus system operates three types of routes. These are: Intra-city, Intercity and Long distance. Currently the most operated route is the intra-city followed by the intercity and long distance. A total of 89 intra-city, 41 intercity and 23 long distance routes are operated by Metro Mass. The numbers are being increased.

Maritime Transport
There are two main seaports (or harbours) in Ghana namely Tema and Takoradi. Tema is the biggest port and major operations at this por t are s kewed towards impor t commodities such as heavy machinery, containerized cargo etc. Operations at the Takoradi port are skewed towards the export trade with emphasis on commodities such as cocoa, timber, manganese and bauxite. Por t faci l i t ies and the domes t ic transportation networks serving them are critical elements in Ghana’s transportation system.

Container Sea Port Traffic
Container seaport traffic increased steadily from 2001. Between 2004 and 2010 there was steady increase of total container seaport traffic (imports and exports) from 385,902 TEUs to 643,189 TEUs. Imported Containers (TEUs) also increased from 198,149 in 2004 to 336,719 in 2010. Container transport is expected to remain the preferred means of maritime cargo transport owing to its considerable advantages.

Vessel Traffic
The number of vessel calls in 2010 was 3,064. Overall vessel calls to the country continued to increase each year. Between 2000 and 2006, Tema Port received between 70-77% of all vessel calls.

Aviation Sector
From 2004 international air passenger traffic increased from 705,370 to 1,204,786 in 2009 and in 2010 further increased to 1,387,045.

The air passenger traffic increased every year throughout the period 2007 to 2010. In 2010, movements to and from Europe constituted about 33.5% of the total passenger throughput that was handled at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA); and the West African sub region contributed about 27.7%.

Rail Sector
The rail industry in Ghana has a total track length of 1300km and operates a route length of 947km. These track and route lengths have been the same since the year 2000. The annual rail freight revenue increased from 2001 to 2005 but recorded a drop in 2006. It increased from 63 billion cedis in 2001 to 99 billion cedis in 2005. In 2006 there was a decrease of 21%.

ECOWAS Market
ECOWAS with a population of over 300 million offers considerable demand for water for consumption. In addition, a large proportion of the sub-region is facing increasing desertification challenges which make the potential and future demand for water for consumption enormous.

On the other hand water demand has increased due to the growing population and higher standards of living, leading to more competition and conflicts between the consumers. In Benin, for example the average quantity of 4.220 m3 of sweet water per person and year indicates the unsatisfactory access to safe drinking water.
Experts agree that pressure on resources will be incomparably higher in 20 years than it is today. This will also be true in Africa and West Africa in particular.

The necessary and probable improvement of living conditions of the West African population, the progress towards the Millennium Development Goals, as well as agricultural growth and industrial development all imply a significant increase in water consumption.

INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES
The water supply and sani tat ion infrastructure is insufficient, especially in rural areas. Major investments are needed to extend coverage, rehabilitate and maintainexisting infrastructure and provide Point Sources (boreholes/hand-dug wells), Small Towns Pipe Schemes, Rain Harvest Plants and Household/Institutional Latrines. Investment is needed to provide electrical services in the construction of the physical facilities including street lighting, improved coverage/access and service efficiency, and manufacturing.

Considerable investment opportunities abound in the telecommunication sector. The sector requires service providers to connect international voice calls to the local public network. Technological and other support related services such as the supply of quality telecommunications equipment are also required. Major investment opportunities for the roads and transport are in the areas of construction and maintenance, services and sales.
Identified as one of government’s priority areas to be developed under its medium term plan, transport services offer exciting opportunities especially the following:
• In mass transportation – scheduled bus system
• Rail upgrades and passenger rail transport on chosen corridors
• Lake transportation systems
• Air transport operators for domestic and sub-regional services
• Development of regional airports
• Upgrading of existing trunk roads under BOT,BOO,BAT,BLT etc. systems

GENERAL INCENTIVES
Incentives to the sector may apply under the following provisions:
• There is customs duty exemption for plant, machinery and equipment imported for investment purposes
• All companies enjoy a corporate tax rate of 25 %

Ghana High Commission, New Delhi
Honorary Consulate, Mumbai

Honorary Consulate, Kolkata